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Agewell
Let’s
add life to their years! Agewell is a close-knit team of concerned
individuals from varied fields, each with a track record of success,
sharing regard and concern for the old. People who have come together to
find a way out of the loneliness that most old people have to face. There
are professionals, senior bureaucrats, university professors; artists,
writers, judges - all people who sincerely feel for the cause. To support
their efforts is a dedicated management, a team of professionals &
trained counselors charged with zeal to work for the society. Agewell
proposes to co-opt various organizations, educational, institutions,
multinationals, NGOs and the Government to enlist their support for the
cause. It will also reach out
to all sections of society through a wide mix of services and support. Agewell
Helpline for Older Persons in Delhi * Today
in smaller units, elders are felt to be in the way. Taking up time and
place and hard earned resources. The
past is forgotten. Gratitude
is nowhere in the picture. Duty is being upstaged by pressures that are
genuine and reasons that are excuses. Agewell
aims to disabuse the popular mindset that regards old age with a sense of
pity for their helplessness. Replacing
it with an attitude of confidence, fostering respect for them and
encouraging fortitude in them. And bringing a little certainty, even fun
into their lives. With
this purpose in mind, Agewell-Helpline has been set up for the older
persons. A network of thousands of volunteers are already at work in given
areas. They are constantly alert to attend to matters of medical or
emotional nature, affairs to do with security as well as legal and
financial advice. They are spread across the city so that no cry for help
goes unanswered. Giving
elders a sense that there is someone they can turn to at all times, on
whom they are not a burden. Agewell-National
Employment Exchange for Older Persons Old
age notwithstanding there are goals to achieve. Agewell strongly
subscribes to that view and sees a tremendous opportunity in gainful
re-employment. Many elders
desire it because they would rather not idle away their old age. Some
aspire to it because they believe they are still entirely productive
citizens, for others it is a means of survival.
They may have sons not yet settled, daughter not yet married,
school or college going children who still have to be supported.
Ironically there are many jobs that could well use their skills and
expertise, and of course their years of experience. Agewell attempts to
bring the opportunity seekers and providers together.
Agewell-Sharing
a Smile with the Elders (A School Contact Programme) Whether
in the joint family or nuclear, the elders are having a rough time. If
parents are dependent and living with young couples invariably there is
resentment against them. They are looked down upon, attitude even
grandchildren tend to emulate subconsciously from their parents. It is as
though it is an unwanted burden to be borne that makes elders feel small
and unwelcome. On the other
hand wherever joint families have divided into nuclear units, neither kids
nor parents have the time or the space to cope with the morale or the
physical well being of the slowed down, elderly people who are then
treated as though they have outlived their use. Clearly there are shades
and shades of the problem. And sadly enough, it has permeated into
educated as well as not so enlightened homes in different degrees. Who
then should be our focus? Agewell
believes that children could make the difference. If children are prompted to share a smile with the elders and
spend a few moments together, the tide may start to turn. It is these
moments, which will always be remembered, particularly by the elders.
Children could set an example to their parents by their behaviour and
eventually bring them closer not just to the elders of their family but to
the elders of society in general. Agewell
Foundation has embarked upon an ambitious social contact programme of
reaching out to over half a million-school students in Delhi in a bid to
set off a feeling of acceptance and affection for the elders. Agewell-Family
Membership - Registering old people who live alone Life
today is faster than ever, giving us little respite from its burry and
divided aims. Caught in a vice, chasing goals and juggling
responsibilities we are often unable to do justice to all our duties.
Among them is the acknowledgement of a simple but lifelong debt we owe our
parents and our elders. People who shaped our future and moulded us into the men and
women we are. Spending all those years making our dreams their plans,
putting our happiness before their own. Now when these very people need us
we seem to have left them behind. Due
to one compulsion or the other we may have unwittingly drifted away from
them. Leaving them only with a sense of emptiness and despair. Agewell
registers old people who live alone for a lifetime membership fee of
Rs.5000 for an individual or couple, and welcomes them into its fold of
warmth and caring. Having tied up with leading doctors, hospital services,
security agencies, trained counsellors, legal and financial wizards, HRD
and personnel managers, and trained attendants, Agewell offers exclusive
services at a nominal price. As per a predetermined rate card, bills are
raised on monthly basis to be paid by the sponsor or the user of the
service, whichever is more convenient. For
the members, a trained counselor pays routine visits every week.
He will be only a phone call away and may be called upon at any
time to act as an escort, do their running around or simply cheer them up.
The same counselor will be assigned to the same elder to extend a
feeling of warmth & trust between the two. Agewell-Helplines
for Older Persons in Ahmedabad and Bhuj (Gujarat)* Helplines
have been set up in Ahmedabad & Bhuj respectively for older persons,
particularly for displaced, distressed and disturbed. These Helplines aim
to counsel older persons, to help them re-build themselves, to rekindle
the self-confidence, to assist them in identifying
& availing best possible offerings as per their needs from
various sources; to organise counseling & community participation
activities and to organise help, treatment & assistance. Aadhar-
Secretariat of National Council for Older Persons Ministry
of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India has commissioned
Agewell Foundation to set up Aadhar as Secretariat of National Council for
Older Persons. Aadhar is responsible for looking after the grievances of
older persons and assist them in finding solutions. It has set up a nation
wide Zila Aadhar Network covering every district of the country with
thousands of committed and concerned volunteers.
The voluntary network is assisted in its efforts by the local administration under the guidance of District Collector and
the Superintendent of Police in each district. Millions of older persons
all over the country now have access to Zila Aadhar Members/Associates for
redressal of their grievances, which are now being resolved in a
systematic manner. PROPOSED INITIATIVES LINKAGE BETWEEN ADOLESCENTS AND OLDER PERSONS OLD AGE TRAUMA CENTER OLD AGE AND DISABILITY – AN OUTREACH INITIATIVE INTERACTION CENTER FOR OLDER PERSONS OLDER PERSONS AS SOCIAL COMMUNICATORS OLDER PERSONS AND HIV/AIDS OLD AGE MANAGEMENT – TRAINING PROGRAMMES CARE GIVER - TRAINING MODULES OLDER PERSONS IN PRISON AND ASYLUMS – AN
ASSESSMENT. For
any old age related problem, suggestions, participation, registration as a
volunteer Himanshu
Rath Agewell
Foundation M-4,
Lajpat Nagar-II, New Delhi-110024, INDIA, Phone:
91-011-6836486,6910484 Fax: 6820458, Copyright
© 2002 Global Action on Aging
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